Ukraine election candidate claims fraud in his district

Euronews

Accusations of electoral fraud continue to be levelled following Sunday’s election in Ukraine.

A district office in Kiev was blocked on Tuesday night after far-right Svoboda party candidate Andriy Illienko claimed votes for him had been counted in favour of his rival – independent candidate, and one of the richest women in the country, Halyna Herega.

The election has been criticised by European monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation (OSCE).

Describing what he claimed had taken place, Svoboda candidate Andriy Illienko said: “One of the local election commissions has brought a false protocol. We had an original one, sealed, but what they had was an absolute fraud.”

However, deciding what constitutes an irregularity is not his responsibility as the Head of the District Election Commission, according to Ivan Kartavy:
“I don’t represent the authority which decides whether or not to admit an incident of fraud. We only accept the protocols and if they don’t match we have to recount the votes.”

Illienko has now been officially declared the winner in his district.

With counting almost completed, President Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of the Regions is expected to win the most votes.